Prince Bandar behind effort to topple Assad: Ralph Schoenman

The CIA and the Saudis arm and coordinate what is called extensive evidence that the rebels, the murderous US-backed militia with al-Qaeda-linked Islamist formations, have played a leading role and have used repeatedly these chemical weapons."

Press TV has conducted an interview with author and political commentator Ralph Schoenman about Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia who is reportedly leading a secret Saudi-CIA effort to aid militants in Syria.
The following is an approximate transcript of the interview.
Press TV: Give us your thoughts on this report revealing Bandar’s role in the sequence of events that ultimately may lead to a US attack on Syria?
Schoenman: Well, as a matter of fact The Wall Street Journal article is very specific, “Inside the Central Intelligence Agency everyone knows Saudi Arabia is serious about toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The Saudi king named Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz al-Saud to lead this effort.
The CIA has been involved with the Saudis in providing plane loads of money and arms and Prince Bandar has been jetting from coverts to manned centers near Syrian front lines to the Elysee Palace in Paris; the Kremlin in Moscow, seeking to organize the undermining of the Assad regime according to Arab American European officials.”
This article continues - “Current Saudi Ambassador to Washington Adel al-Jubeir is leading a parallel campaign to coax Congress and the reluctant Obama administration to expand the US role in Syria. The conflict has become a proxy war for Middle East factions and Saudi Arabia’s efforts are one side of its broad efforts to expand its influence.”
And it continues - “The Saudi lobbying is part of the calculus involving and including chemical attacks.”
The specific reference to chemical attacks is corroborated by Associated Press reports that document that in fact the chemicals involved that have been the rationale and pretext for the imperialist planned aggression against Syria were in fact a Saudi undertaking provided to the mercenary formations that the CIA and the Saudis arm and coordinate what is called extensive evidence that the rebels, the murderous US-backed militia with al-Qaeda-linked Islamist formations, have played a leading role and have used repeatedly these chemical weapons.
In fact, all of the concrete evidence indicates that this is exactly what is involved in the current circumstance where chemical weapons were used not by the Assad government, but indeed by the rebels in this Saudi coordination as a well planned and prepared and well documented pretext as per usual for American imperialism to invade and dismantle another government.
Let me emphasize here that American imperialism has a decades-long history of using chemical weapons and gas throughout the war in Indo-China, chemicals and gas; chemicals, which explode the pupil of the eye; toxic chemicals of all sorts were used throughout Indo-China, throughout Vietnam. It was documented amply in the International War Crimes Tribunal.
Similarly with respect to the war on Iraq - Saddam Hussein was provided specifically with gas and chemicals that were used against Iran; and used by direction against Iran and were part of a coordinated attack initiated by Zbigniew Brzezinski after a meeting with Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia, al-Sabah the Emir of Kuwait and Saddam Hussein in Kuwait, precipitating the attack by Iraq upon Iran involving the use of chemical and gas weapons.
Fallujah in Iraq - Fallujah is permeated by chemicals weapons of the United States. In fact there was thalidomide-like birth deformities across Iraq as an outcome of the chemicals from the depleted uranium used.
Press TV: I’d like to get your thoughts on what are the Saudis gains in all of this?
Schoenman: The Saudis and the feudal apparatus in Saudi Arabia is seeking to dismantle and to undermine any national government that opposes imperialist objectives.
In particular the Wahabis are seeking to wage a war against Shia Islam, which is a component of their subordination to imperialism and their service to its aims.
They have done this with respect to Syria; they have done this with respect to Iran; they are doing it with respect to Lebanon; they are doing it with respect to Egypt.
In fact, they were involved - Prince Bandar and the Saudis - in coordinating with the Egyptian military this coup against Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood of course had in fact attempted to submit to imperialism and encourage attacks against Syria and mobilize in support of attacks upon Iran itself. Nonetheless it was sacrificed because of popular anger at the austerity measures to which Morsi had acquiesced.
And the military took its actions against Morsi as a prelude to cracking down on the population at large.
All of this indicates the Saudi role at the behest of imperialism. And the specific moment that chemical weapons had been introduced into Syria, used in Syria and imputed to the regime it is part of the pattern of a false flag operation by imperialism.
SC/HGH